Text: Genesis 16:3 KJV
Further Reading: Daniel 3:1-30
And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
Genesis 16:3
MESSAGE
The Bible says that gifts can blind a man (Exodus 23:8). Not all gifts are to be accepted. Whatever man gives you will not last and may later become injurious to you.
Maybe you are in great difficulty, it is a time for you to be careful of which gift or offer you accept from men. You must learn to say No! The trials of this present moment are not enough to make you lose your grip on God. Meanwhile, those trials are for the present moment and cannot be compared with the glory God is prepared for you (Romans 8:18).
It is also important to note that when God allows you in the fire, He will make a way of escape and not allow you to fall. (1 Corinthians 10:13). Furthermore, when you are tried, God wants to know what stock you are made of (1 Peter 1:7). It is also during this phase that the enemy sponsors some wrong opportunity, you must be careful to discern and say No.
Every good and perfect gift comes from above and from the father of light in whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning (James 1:17). Whenever you are offered any opportunity or way out that will drag you outside of God’s will for your life, you must say No. How can a child of God take a huge paying job in a nightclub even when that is the only available option? You must learn to say No.
There are so many opportunities that seem even harmless that you must trust God to say No to. It is not enough to profess your faith in God, you must prove it by staying loyal to Him.
I was amazed how Abram in our text of the day simply took the offer to have children through Hagar. He never questioned it or ask God, he simply went for it.
Though Abram had no child God’s promise hangs upon his life. The same way the promise and plans of God are upon your life. His plans and thoughts for you are the thoughts of good and not of evil to give you a glorious future (Proverbs 29:11).
Your present challenge is not enough reason for you to go into evil. You must stand your ground and maintain your integrity. Nothing in this world is worth risking your immortal soul for. Even if you gain the whole world to lose your soul, you will simply be wasting your eternity (Matthew 16:26).
This calls for grace and abiding in the vine – by yourself, you can do nothing. Let God be your source of strength and always seek His face for direction at every point (John 15:4-5). You can count on God who will not lie to keep you from falling.
Whatever and whoever stands to move you away from God’s will, Learn to say No to them either politely or vehemently.
REFLECTION
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Romans 8:33
Whatever you are faced with, learn to say No to every counsel that is against the word of God.
PRAYER
Father, please help me to say No to every evil counsel that is against your will for my life.
